Territorial Disputes

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea Treaty covers a variety of ocean-usage issues such as transit, mining, research, pollution, and resource management and sets out guidelines for nations. Territorial claims can be submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. On December 15, 2014, Denmark and Greenland submitted a claim to part of the Arctic, including the North Pole, which Russia and Canada each claim as their territory.

At a public meeting in Assam a few days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated his government’s intention to pursue the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh. While resolving the border with Bangladesh may seem like a quiet regional development compared with the turmoil in Afghanistan or competition with China, it will in effect deliver a political hat-trick of historic proportion.

In 2013, the Philippines appealed to the United Nation's Convention on the Law of the Sea in settling claims to territory in the South China Sea. On December 7, 2014, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the Chinese government's response, arguing that the Convention does not apply to the dispute in the South China Sea.

President Barack Obama spoke on July 21, 2014, about the conflict between Hamas and Israel, and about investigations into the Malaysia Airlines plane that crashed in Ukraine on July 17, 2014 and Russia's actions in the area.

The China National Overseas Oil Coorporation (CNOOC) began drilling in Vietnamese-claimed waters late last week, accompanied by more than seventy vessels, including armed Chinese warships.Elizabeth Economy and Michael Levi write that the United States needs to face up to the full magnitude of the Chinese challenge to have any hope of successfully confronting it.

The members of the United Nations voted on Resolution A/RES/68/262, Territorial Integrity of Ukraine, and the resolution was adopted on March 27, 2014. The resolution is the UN's response to Russia's treaty with Ukraine about Russia annexing Crimea.

Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the President of the European Council, and the President of the European Commission met in The Hague and released this statement on March 24, 2014. In the joint document, the leaders declares their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and their rejection of Russia's annexation of Crimea. The document states that the leaders will not attend the G8 meeting in Sochi in June 2014, but will convene as the G7 in Brussels.

"The west is not going to war with a nuclear-armed Russia. But outright annexation of a part of a smaller country strikes at the roots of the post-second world war European settlement. Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, was right to say that Russia had resorted to the "law of the jungle". This annexation cannot go unanswered. It is too dangerous a precedent."

Assistant Secretary of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific on February 5, 2014. He discussed tensions in East Asia sea, China's announcement of its Air Defense Identification Zone, and U.S. role in maintaining relations.

Three experts join CFR President Richard N. Haass to discuss what actions the United States can take to ensure stability between China and its neighbors in this video of a mock high-level U.S. government meeting.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed a peace process framework regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. Secretary Kerry and Lead Negotiator for the Palestinian Authority Saeb Erekat delivered remarks about the discussions on January 4, 2013. Secretary Kerry also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave remarks before their meeting on January 2, 2013, to discuss a peace process framework regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. Secretary Kerry also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lead Negotiator for the Palestinian Authority Saeb Erekat in Ramallah.

Between July 2013 and December 2013, Dr. Richard Haass led peace process negotiations on how five political parties in Northern Ireland commemorate historical events related to regional conflict. The conflict, sometimes called The Troubles, began in the 1960s regarding the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and its two main communities; the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 addressed some of these issues.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held a press conference with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on December 16, 2013. They discussed the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership and tensions in the South and East China Seas.

CFR Experts Guide

The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.

New Council Special Reports

Campbell evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society.

Koblentz argues that the United States should work with other nuclear-armed states to manage threats to nuclear stability in the near term and establish processes for multilateral arms control efforts over the longer term.

The authors argue that it is essential to begin working now to expand and establish rules and norms governing armed drones, thereby creating standards of behavior that other countries will be more likely to follow.

2014 Annual Report

Learn more about CFR’s mission and its work over the past year in the 2014 Annual Report. The Annual Report spotlights new initiatives, high-profile events, and authoritative scholarship from CFR experts, and includes a message from CFR President Richard N. Haass.Read and download »